Newspaper Page Text
The Southern Israelite
A Weekly Newspaper for Southern Jewry
; — ; Established 1925
ATLANTA, GEORGIA, THURSDAY, APRIL 17, 1952 NO. 14
500 at Gordon Miss
But Get
Five-day Passes Issued in Error to Trainees;
Army Flies 1100 Pounds of Pesach Articles
to Augusta in Last Minute Preparation
By Adolph Rosenberg
Five hundred Jewish soldiers
at Camp Gordon had a Seder the
first night of Passover—but not
before they had been plunged into
deep disappointment over can
cellation of five-day passes.
Passover leaves had been grant
ed through error. Before the error
was discovered, most of the
soldiers—all in training schools—
had made plans to spend Pass-
over at homes—in more than two
dozen different states or in near
by communities, including At
lanta.
News of the cancellation on the
eve of Passover evoked a con
fused and tense reaction among
the men, all of whom are recent
inductees into service. Many were
convinced they had been victim
ized by religious prejudice.
Tempers were not improved
when it was learned that their
Christian brbthers - in - uniform
had been granted passes for
Easter weekend.
The strike tie-up in the com
munications industry hdded con
sternation to the situation. Men
who had already informed their
family to meet trains or buses
rushed to telegraph and phone
centers and sought to contact re
latives. The lines were jammed
with special calls.
A spokesman for the Army told
The Southern Israelite the passes
had to be cancelled or the entire
school program at Camp Gordon
suspended because of Jewish
absentees.
The leaves were granted erron
eously, he said. While the Army
has a policy of cooperating with
any religious group for religious
holidays, this does not apply to
training schools. Where holidays
occur during weekends, the of
ficer added, special leaves are
granted, provided they do not
interfere with the school sched
ule.
The men involved in the pass
(Continued on page two)
Chaplain Zion is shown supervising the unloading of Passover
supplies rushed down in emergency flight to Camp Gordon at
Augusta for the “impromptu” Seder after the cancellation of passes.
Welfare Fund Top Advance
Givers Spearhead 1952 Drive
dership of the current campaign.
Captain Joshua L. Goldberg
was then introduced by Dr. Irv
ing L. Greenberg, fellow general
chairman of the 1952 campaign.
Captain Goldberg, a chaplain in
the U. S. Navy, is the highest
ranking Jewish clergyman in the
U. S. forces. In his talk he wove
out of the experiences o»f his own
life, the elements that go to
make up American democracy.
He recalled very vividly some of
his own missions in connection
with his official duties which
gave him the opportunity of see
ing at first hand the workings
of America and in the preserva-
unity of our people.
Captain Goldberg pleaded for
an oqtright Jewishness that is
compatible with with the basic
elements of Americanism. Said
Captain Goldberg, ‘‘To be our
selves, to help our fellow Jews
overseas, in Israel and at home,
—these are in the best interest
of America and in the perservo-
tion of the American way of
life. As free men in a democratic
land, we can discharge these
responsibilities with dignity and
self respect.”
Captain Goldberg made a
special point of telling his au
dience of the anticipation with
which he had looked forward to
this return visit to Atlanta. He
was eager, he said, to come back
to compliment the community
upon its leadership and its gene
ral response to Jewish needs
everywhere. Upon the comple
tion of his address Captain Gold
berg received a rousing ovation.
Abe Goldstein, who chaired
the meeting, in his usual direct
and businesslike fashion, stated
that everyone left the meeting
feeling good about each one’s
participation and results obtain
ed.
Coming just one week after
the Physicians and Dentists An
nual Welfare Fund affair offi
cials noted that the Advance
Gifts dinner held last Sunday
night with similar successful re
sults, seems to furnish “ade
quate evidence that the Atlanta
Jewish community is. rising to
the occasion and that the 1952
Welfare Fund Campaign will be
one of the most successful in the
history Of this overall community
effort.”
Jews Bow to Baptists
Officials of the Jewish Com
munity Center in Wilkes—
Hai ro, Pa., decided to close the
'''nti*r on Easter Sunday.
Reason was to give avail
able parking space to persons
attending services in the near
by First Baptist Church.
Emanuel Celler in Atlanta Sunday
For Advance Gifts Division Dinner
Emanuel Celler, one of the
leading members of the House of
Representatives from New York,
will be guest of honor at an Ad
vance Gifts Division dinner at
8:15 p.m. Sunday, April 20, at the
Mayfair Club.
Leaders of this division of the
At Recent Weinstein Testimonial Dinner
*• "• Weinstein, second from
''**• honored recently be-
1 -‘Use of his long-time leader-
'*'ip in the Atlanta Jewish
Welfare Fund. He served for
" an y years as its president
••ini paced big-time giving
"■bieh inspired other contribu-
lors and leadership to new
heights in philanthropy. Shown
with him at the testimonial
dinner are his wife, who guid
ed the Atlanta Women’s Divi-
vision in many a Welfare Fund
campaign, his son, who is fol
lowing in the ranks of philan
thropic leadership and his
daughter-io-law (at his left).
In one of the most inspira
tional talks ever heard in the
quanta Jewish community, Air.
Weinstein impressed the im
portance of responsibility for
“our neighbors.” “The art of
giving,” he said, “is something
which should be taught by par
ents to children, for it is as
important to modern Jewish
living as art and music appre
ciation.”—THE EDITOR.
1952 Welfare Fund Campaign,
Meyer Balser, Hyman Meltz,
Stanford Makover and Philip
Shulhafer^ have been at work
daily with members of their com
mittee to assure the success of
this event. They have urged all
those in this, division to show', by
their attendance, their apprecia
tion of the honor being paid At
lanta by Congressman Celler in
making special efforts to come to
Atlanta to address them.
Speaking of the Sunday event,
Meyer Balser remarked, “If only
we can have everybody in our
division attend this meeting on
April 20, it would really be one
of the most wonderful happen
ings of the campaign. The ef
fect upon both contributors and
workers would be dynamic, be
cause we could complete our tasks
in record time and leave the din
ner with the marvelous feeling
that comes when you have faced
the job and completed it. The
needs are real and must be met.
We are sure that our division
will set an even higher record
than the second division which
have already reported.”
Mr. Shulhafer described the
visitor as an individual “who has
done an outstanding job in being
alert in behalf of every cause
(Continued on page two)
Thirty-nine contributors in the top Advance Gift Divi
sion pledged an overall total of $314,000 at the Welfare Fund
dinner meeting held at the Standard Club on Sunday, April
13, to set a high standard for
giving in the 1952 Campaign.
This represents an overall total
increase (comparing the same
cards and same contributors
last year) of 15%. The individual
increases ranged from 10% to
100%.
Guests of honor at the dinner
were David Goitein, Israeli min
ister and Captain Joshua L.
Goldberg, U. S. Naval chaplain.
Mr. Goitein was introduced by
M. William Breman, one of the
general chairmen of the 1952
campaign. He gave a factual ac
count of the development of Is
rael and explored the potential
capacity for future growth. He
told of the courage and ingenuity
of the Israel people in overcom
ing obstacles and meeting emer
gencies and he appealed for a
continuance of help until such
time as Israel’s economy has
become" stabilized and self suf
ficient. '.
I. M. Weinstein, in responding
to Mr. Goitein, recalled his own
impressions on his visit to Israel
five years ago before the estab
lishment of the state, and he
stated that his impressions were
confirmed by the actual report
of progress by Mr. Goitein.
Mr. Weinstein was followed by
Frank Garson, President of the
Welfare Fund, who congratu
lated those present on their re
sponse and praised the fine lea-
Captain Norman Goldberg, Augusta rabbi, who is serving a
temporary two-week tour of active duty at Camp Gordon, is shown
at the Seder with one of the hospital patients—Pfc. Egal Bendane,
a wounded Korean veteran. Bendane, who attended the special
Seder in a stretcher, was not one of the GI trainees denied a
Passover Pass.